


A Night on the Town

by ShyVioletCat



Category: Throne of Glass Series - Sarah J. Maas
Genre: canon went and ruined it all, oh what could have been
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-14
Updated: 2019-09-14
Packaged: 2020-10-18 03:40:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 987
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20632487
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShyVioletCat/pseuds/ShyVioletCat
Summary: This was originally written as a side story to another story of mine called show me. Then canon went and blew it apart. But I love this ship and what could have been.





	A Night on the Town

Fenrys was frustrated beyond sensible reason. That woman… that witch… she was driving him insane.

Asterin Blackbeak.

She had turned up at his door just past dinner, dressed in flying leathers hair still tousled by the wind. Then she had demanded a change of clothes and to be taken out. And Fenrys, the fool he was, catered to her every whim. He gave her a pair of his trousers and a tunic. Asterin just frowned down at what she wore then rifled through his draws until she found a belt to cinch around her waist. Then she suggested he acquire some clothes for her to keep here. Because this was not the first time she had done this, and Fenrys suspected, certainly not the last.

Sometimes on her way back from the Witch Kingdom in The Wastes she would take an indirect route via Terrasen on her way back to report Manon in Rifthold. And they would go out, drink and dance and laugh. Their wildness feeding the other like air feeds fire. When the night was over she would somehow be sober enough to mount her sky blue wyvern and fly away. Fenrys would stumble his way back to his room in the palace and fall into bed. In the morning he would wake up, cursing Asterin for the loss of another set of clothes, the pounding in his head and the empty feeling in his chest. 

Because there was something there, something neither of them acknowledged. 

* * *

But it was this _something_ that was frustrating Fenrys now as he watched her dance her way through a crowd towards the counter to order more drinks. Fenrys was still nursing his previous drink, not in the mood to get blind drunk. He knew once Asterin noticed this she would do everything in her power to change this mood. And being subject to her every whim Fenrys would comply. With an almost inaudible growl Fenrys downed the rest of his drink within a few big gulps, cringing as it burned his throat. 

Fenrys heard a laugh and he looked up. Asterin was on her way back and she had laughed as someone had bumped into her, almost knocking the drinks from her hand. No doubt she laughed because it was a handsome young man and he had a steadying hand on her elbow. Fenrys snarled and went to take another swig from his drink. It was only when he came up empty that he remembered that he had finished it. 

A moment later Asterin appeared before him, beaming with that beautiful face of hers. 

"What has you snarling, Wolf Pup?" Asterin asked as she slid Fenrys his fresh drink. Fenrys didn't reply, he just took a large mouthful of drink. Which was a mistake. 

He coughed and spluttered as Asterin tipped her head back and laughed. 

"Mother's tits," Fenrys got out hoarsely, "what is that?"

Asterin laughed for a little longer before she replied, "The barman's own brew. I'm not sure it's entirely legal."

Fenrys laughed at that and he took another tentative sip. It wasn't half bad, just very potent.

"Well, it got you to stop snarling," Asterin said over the rim of her own glass. 

Fenrys paused, his drink halfway to his mouth. He looked at Asterin and his face fell, and for a moment hers did as well. That something had risen to the surface, his own fault for dwelling on it, and as Fenrys looked at Asterin he knew this could be the moment. 

But he did nothing. With a shake of his head and a deep breath he drank, every effort going into not coughing again. 

Tonight was not the night. He had seen the hesitancy in Asterin's eyes. He would not push this, wouldn't force anything. Hell, he wasn't even sure he was ready. The war had left them all with scars. For tonight they would be friends, and they would drink and dance until they couldn't stand. 

When Fenrys looked at Asterin she was looking at the dancers, her shoulders moving slightly to the music. With a feral grin, Fenrys damned the consequences and downed the rest of his drink. This time not able to restrain the cough. That brought Asterin's attention to him and her lips quirked up in a small smile. 

"I'm going to regret that," Fenrys said as he stood. Then he took Asterin's hand in his and led her to dance floor. 

~~~~~ 

Hours later Fenrys and Asterin stumbled arm in arm to where her wyvern waited outside the city gates. Well, more aptly put Fenrys stumbled, Asterin was still remarkably put together even though they had consumed the same amount of that barman’s toxic liquor. Fenrys was quietly damning her. And damning himself that he insisted on escorting her out because it meant he had to walk all the way back to the palace. But he couldn't let her go. Not just yet. 

Before he knew it they had reached her wyvern and it yawned, shook and stretched as it saw them approach. Asterin turned to him, a smile on her face. Fenrys couldn't help but smile back. 

Then Asterin did something she had never done before. She raised her hand to his cheek, and ever so gently, caressed it with her thumb. Fenrys' whole body stilled, every sense focusing on that touch. When her hand fell it was like a spell had broken and Fenrys came back to himself. 

"Thank you for tonight, Pup." 

That was all Asterin said before she turned away. 

Fenrys watched as she tightened the saddle and mounted. With a final wave she shot into the still dark sky. Fenrys couldn't move. It wasn't like they hadn't touched before. They danced together so often, but this touch... it had held a held a sparked of that damned _something_. 

Fenrys hoped that if he remembered anything in the morning, it would be that touch.


End file.
